University of Aberdeen

It is an ancient university founded in 1495, when William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen, asked Pope Alexander VI on behalf of James IV, King of Scots to create the reverse Kings College of ignorance he had seen in the north of Scotland at that time. This makes it the third oldest university in Scotland (after the University of St. Andrews and the University of Glasgow) and the fifth oldest in the English speaking world. The university as today was formed in 1860 by the merger of King's College (which had always referred to himself as the University of Aberdeen) and Marischal College, a university founded in 1593 second in the center of Aberdeen as a Protestant alternative to Kings College. Today, the University of Aberdeen is consistently ranked among the 150 best universities in the world and is one of two universities in Aberdeen today (the other is The Robert Gordon University).

Emblematic buildings of the university act as symbols of the city of Aberdeen, College particularly Marischal in the center of the city and the tower of the University Rey in Old Aberdeen. There are two campuses, the main campus of King's College in Old Aberdeen about two miles north of the city center, around the original site of King's College, although most of the buildings on campus were built in the early 20 during an expansion period. The university campus is located to Aberdeen Forester hill Royal Infirmary and houses the School of Medicine and Dentistry and the School of Medical Sciences.

The University has approximately 13,500 undergraduate students at the doctoral level, including many international students. There are also a large number of masters and doctoral students. In addition, the University Center for Lifelong Learning acts as an extension of the university, which offers higher education courses to the local community, even for those who do not have the usual requirements for admission to degree level studies. A wide range of disciplines are offered, including the liberal arts, sciences, social sciences, psychology, mathematics, engineering, law, medicine, education, computer science, music, theology, theology and religious studies. In 2012, the university offers more than 650 degree programs.

Five Nobel laureates associated with the university. Other scholars and graduates of the university include many famous people, including: Clerk Maxwell; physicist James Thomas Reid, the founder of the Scottish school of common sense and an important figure in the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher Robert Adamson, educationist and philosopher Alexander Bain, and theologian William Robinson Clark.

The creation of the University of Aberdeen

The nearest of the two universities had reached full union was as "Carolina University of Aberdeen", a merger initiated by Charles I of Scotland in 1641. Following the civil conflicts of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a more complete unification is attempted after the ratification of Parliament by Oliver Cromwell during the interregnum in 1654. The United College survived until Restoration whereby all laws made during this period were rescinded by Charles II and the two colleges reverted to independent status. Charles I is still recognized as one of the founders of the university, because of its role in the creation of Charles University and his benevolence towards King's College. Other suggestions unsuccessful union was launched throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries.

The two universities of Aberdeen finally merged the September 15, 1860 in accordance with the Universities (Scotland) Act 1858, which also set a new school of medicine at Matriarchal College. The Parliament Act 1858 stated that the "united University shall take rank among the universities of Scotland from the date of the erection of Kings College and the University." The University is thus Scotland's third oldest and fifth oldest University UK.